No Motivation To Do Well | ADHD Information
Jessica, I totally get and agree with what you are saying. But regarding the projects in class: there are 30 kids in the class and if the teacher could come over to him every five minutes and put him back on task, that would be great...but it isn't reality. The guidance counselor finally got back to me late yesterday we and have a meeting scheduled for Monday with his teacher, behavorial therapist and herself. We are going to put some extra checks into his accomodations.
Does the 504 have to be approved through the school? If so I am gone that route. I put in writing that I wanted him tested which they did last fall. He didn't qualify. He will be in the 5th grade and even though I feel I am good in math and have a college education, the math is getting tougher and tougher and I won't be able to understand it to help him much longer. I swear they are doing things now that I did in the 8th or 9th grade.
I love my son and think he is great and will do whatever to help him get through school. I am going to look at some of the things you suggested and maybe it is time I revisited reading about ADHD. If he truly can't concentrate on anything for more than 5 minutes without getting distracted and I can't adjust the medicine any further to help his focus, then that is sad. Obviously we will have to concentrate on what he can focus on for longer periods of time and celebrate those.
Jessica, excellent advice and information about ADHD After reading Jessica N's explanation, I really have to rethink whether I
would want my child in a big class. In a busy classroom setting, would a
child need a person dedicated to them keeping them on track? Even so,
would a roomful of kids still cause too much distraction? What happens
when they enter the adult world? I've read studies showing behavior
therapy with meds is the best to help those with adhd. A checklist with
rewards and consequences sound logical to me. I hope and pray there is a
solution to help your son improve. My son has an ed tech with him who will put him back on task when he
needs it. I highly suggest trying to get one for your son.
And an IEP has nothing to do with how "smart" a kid is - it's based on a
physical handicap. My son is the first kid in our district in special ed
(with an IEP) and gifted and talented. It was harder to get him into G&T,
even though he focuses better when he's challenged.
Find out what your son is interested in so he will be more engaged at
school. One example, my son was assigned a book based on his ability
to write a book report about, but the topic didn't interest him at all. So he
took the "lower level" book to read, and his report blew away his teacher
because it was so much more than she ever expected she'd get from him.
Also - see what you can do about organization and study skills for him.
Having a massive project to do will completely overwhelm an ADHD kid
(actually, most kids). For the book report I just talked about, one night I
sat with my son and talked about what he wanted in his report and all the
steps he wanted to complete and what he needed to do to meet each mini
goal. I took notes and gave them to him. I had to remind him to do a
little each night, but he was actually done early because he had such small
tasks to do each goal and he didn't waste time trying to sort out what he
was doing.
Best of luck with this!Sorry for the double post, but they are really two totally separate issues
going on here.
When my son started with his ed tech, he needed intervention all the
time. By the end of the first year, some days his ed tech wouldn't help
him at all throughout the whole day - she'd correct papers, or
something.
Ed techs are trained to help when kids need help, and back off when they
don't. Because he had someone dedicated to helping him when he
needed it, he didn't have to panic about what he might do - there was a
safety net for him - and he learned how to refocus on his own. At the
end of this year he only needs an ed tech basically outside the classroom
- moving through the halls, etc - and it's probably not due to ADHD
impulsiveness that he has problems when there are masses of kids
everywhere, it's probably due to his sensory integration issues, and it is
too physically (vs mentally) stimulating for him.
Don't worry about forever. You want to give your child what they need
now, so they can learn the extra things they need or the things that other
kids know and they need to catch up with. Once they are caught up you
can step back the interventions. The teacher cannot keep him on task to finish large projects. They need to mostly be done at home with you keeping him on task. The 504 would mostly be for organization, tracking assignments and classwork, seating arrangements, extra time on tests, reminders to stay on task. You might use it to keep the teacher from holding him in at lunch or recess, or marking him late on assignments.
The school needs to approve a 504. It does not matter that they evaluated him for it last year. Make them do it again. I would suggest that you have your child's psychiatrist send an extensive report (offer to pay out of pocket) outlining his/her findings and then stating that a 504 is necessary. Then send another written request with the report attached requesting an evaluation for a 504 this summer so that they have to do it first thing next year. Be tenacious. You are your child's only real advocate. One day all of these teachers will be gone. It will be you and your child left. What did you do for him to get him through it?
Yes, the math gets nasty. I have puchased from Amazon the teacher's edition of the math book for 6th grade, which is what my son is entering. This edition shows exactly what to say to the kids, gives all answers to problems in the math book plus the workbook plus the reteach book. It's awesome. Get one if you can. It's easier to get when the books are old. Also, if I have the funds I'll be getting a tutor once a week.
When you attend the meeting on Monday, go with a big list of stuff that you want and have them negotiate down. Here is a copy of a message from this board from someone. I've been hoarding it because I plan to adopt it for my requests at my son's next 504 meeting. Maybe you will find it useful:
1) Homework can be late if accompanied by a note.
2) The teacher needs to make sure that the homework is handed in by directly asking our son for the homework. This has been helped by him sitting in front of the class so when homework is handed forwarded it jives his memory.
3) The need to go home and painfully summarize the chapter as a method of learning is no longer a requirement. Again, its not the note taking at home or in class that we are grading its whether our guy is accessing the material (or not).
4) Despite the fact that our guy is in accelerated math, he is still only given every other home work problem to accomplish instead of the whole page.
5) If a test is not completed in the alloted time, then he can come back either at lunch, after school or during class the next day to finish the test.
6) Our guy has a problem with organization so it is not uncommon for him to arrive late to his next class because he took too long to pack up from the previous class or stayed late to ask questions. In this case a 'chargeable' tardy is not counted against him for purposes of after school detention.
7) The teacher is required to drop an email if our guy is falling further than a week behind.
He will have a folder that will hold Homework on one side and Classwork on the other. He will turn this into his teachers each day. If he forgets, they will remind him. They will collect any homework and also any classwork he got done during class. There is a form on the front of the folder to track his schoolwork. Each teacher must sign it every day and there is also a place for any comments. He will bring it home each day so that I can track things also.
Any classwork that doesn't get done during the week will come home on Friday and we will complete it at home and turn it in for full credit the following Monday.
Jessica N40339.8640856482
There's a lot of good advice here so I'll make this short. My son had a math teacher this year that didn't return phone calls or answer notes that we sent. I called daily for 3 days and when she didn't respond I showed up at her door as class was letting out. She did the same thing one more time and my husband showed up at her door just when school was letting out. After that she learned that she couldn't ignore or escape from us and answered our phone calls and notes.
My son (nearly 9) is the same. He just can not concentrate. I struggle every week with homework. It's just "too hard". He's only year 3 so no "projects" as such, but I did discover something that might be useful to you.
My son has difficulty with "comprehending" what's written in front of him. He can read the words, but comprehension is something different altogether. One day he had to read a text then answer some questions on it. So, I read the text for him then painted a picture in his mind's eye. It was about Edmund Hillery (which rhymed with Kill - ery so he thought that was hilarious and he then remembered it!) and how he was the first to climb Mt Everest. The text involved his journey up the mountain, his rest stops, what he needed to survive, etc. So after I read a few sentences with him, I paused and used hand movements and dramatic voice changes to allow him to picture a "HUGE" mountain with two men climbing it and "Oh my gosh, it took them ... days to get to the top.. they had to stop .?. times - can you imagine that?" It might or might not work with the project - to have your son really understand what is required and get him to express that as best he can in whatever format the teacher requires. It's OK to help them. They need it & deserve it, but yes, it takes all our energy & efforts..
Good luck, I'm feeling your frustration in this area. It's nice to know I'm not alone. I hope you can take consolation in that!
Cheers,
I could use some advice here. My son is ADHD/Anxiety and is 10 years old. He was diagnosed at the age of 5. For the last two years he has been on 54 mg of Concerta, 50 mg of Xoloft and 10 mg of fast acting Ritalin in the morning. Recently (2 weeks ago) we switched him to the Daytrana patch. My son has no motivation to do well in school. He is cooperative here at home with doing his schoolwork and I always study extra with him to maintain a B in math. At school though if he has a project due and is given two weeks to accomplish it, he will barely start it and that is as far as he gets. The teacher will offer for him to stay in at recess and give him reminders that he needs to work on it, but he won't. I received an e-mail last night at 5:00 saying he had not done a project and that because of his lack of focus she was allowing him to do the project at home, but that it was due today. He chose to talk with friends in class instead of working on it. If it wasn't for me getting that e-mail he wouldn't have done it last night. The same goes for math. If it weren't for me helping him study for tests and do extra work, plus meet with the teacher so I can teach him the same way she is, I think he would fail.
He is adopted and his birthfather gave very little information. The one thing I remember he wrote though was "I do the least amount of work to get by". That is totally my son.
I am not sure how to overcome this. The school won't give him an IEP because he is too smart. He has some accomodations set up for him like sitting in the front of the class and he is allowed study guides for all tests. I would like a checklist put in saying the teacher has to contact me when he isn't doing his work and that consequences and rewards will be set up based on his completion of work. I have a call into the teacher and guidance counselor, but no one has called me back since I left the message Thursday and another one today.
It is so frustrating. I am not sure who I am more angry with now, my son or the school for not helping. This isn't the first time this has happened.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Sandy
I don't know what you can do to motivate your son, but you sure can do something about the school. If he is medically diagnosed, they, by law, need to accomodate him. If I were you, I would make that call EVERY day till someone calls you back, and keep going up the "chain of command"....teacher and guidance counselor, special ed director, vice principal, principal, and superintendent if necessary. Make sure you document each time you left a message. As far as too smart for an IEP, our son has one and he is in kindergarten doing 3rd and 4th grade work. It is soooo frustrating when the disability is behavioral or emotional rather than physical because the schools often don't want to or know how to deal with it. That's why it's our job as parents to be the advocate, and don't give up till you get what your son needs! Good luck and keep fighting!How sad. My daughters teacher really advocated for her to receive a 504,
but in the end she did not. A school psych came in to evaluate and said my
daughter was on task just a little less than other girls, so her adhd was not
effecting her education. My daughters teacher was sooo wonderful this
year that I was not concerned to get anything in writing. I just hope next
year goes as well. I see you are working really hard to ensure he gets his
work done and keeps up his grades. You would think the school would
support you, being that when your son is doing his work it certainly
benefits the teacher. This isn't a motivation problem. The problem is that you do not understand ADHD at its core.
They cannot focus. They become distracted. They hear "chatter" in their heads. They start to work on a project but notice something else in the room, or start to think about something unrelated. Their minds flutter about. They want to do it but they can't. They start many things but do not finish. There are ADHD simulators online. You should find one and run a program that lets you see the world with an ADHD brain.
I seriously doubt that most ADHD kids get large class projects done in class. Mine don't. The teacher reminds him to stay on task, and he does, for five minutes after which time he gets distracted. He wants to tell his neighbor something. He plans on doing that project and he wants to do that project. He really does. But it does not happen.
And yes, you have to help them study for tests. This is because they are not learning in class because they cannot pay attention long enough to learn. They have working memory issues. Their working memory is impaired. Look up working memory.
They have executive functioning skills issues. This means anything having to do with organizing, tracking, monitoring, and planning. Time management is a struggle. Like they are missing a necessary computer chip.
Your child is doing these things because he has a mental disability. Tell yourself this over and over and over. He is not lazy. He is not unmotivated. He is not unwilling. He is a good boy doing the best with what he has been given. He has a mental disability. His brain does not work the way it is suppose to, and the school is set up for people that do not have mental disabilities.
You need to start a formal 504 process. You do this in writing. The teachers need to provide far more accommodations via a 504 so that he can succeed and your frustrations can decrease. These problems need to be addressed by the adults.
REMEMBER, do not get down on him. Self esteem issues wind up being the biggest problem in the end. School eventually ends. Jessica N40337.899837963